Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee council tenants face 3% rent rise in April

Council housing in the Kirkton area of Dundee.
Council housing in the Kirkton area of Dundee.

Council tenants in Dundee face a 3% rent rise in April.

The hike – which is expected to be voted through by councillors next week – will come into force on April 3.

It will mean tenants of council housing paying an average of £2.41 extra per week.

A consultation was launched in November giving tenants the chance to vote for how much their payments go up by in 2023/24.

Some of those who will be affected live in Dundee’s multis. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

Out of the 2,149 people who responded, 71% voted for the lowest increase of 3%.

The other options were a 3.25% rise (£2.62 per week) or 3.5% (£2.82 per week).

Councillor John Alexander, council leader, said: “We are all acutely aware of the financial pressures being faced by our tenants, which is one of the reasons we have doubled the hardship fund to £1 million.

“Taking this step will hopefully ensure that any council tenant who is suffering financial hardship will be able to get the support they need to meet their rent from April.

“A rent increase at this level will add almost £1.6m to support the delivery of vital housing services.”

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson

The increase comes as the Scottish Government’s freeze on social rent – introduced in response to the cost-of-living crisis – ends on March 31.

Heather Anderson, convener of the neighbourhood services committee – which oversees housing – said: “By giving tenants three options we were able to offer them a choice between services remaining at the same high standard, or giving the council additional resources.

“We are acutely aware of the financial pressures people are under right now and we are doing all we can to support people through these tough times.”

Any changes to other charges like council tax will be revealed during the council’s budget-setting process in the coming weeks.

Conversation